Rose Melberg is an American musician and songwriter who has sung and played… Read Full Bio ↴Rose Melberg is an American musician and songwriter who has sung and played guitar as a member of Tiger Trap, The Softies and Go Sailor as well as on her own material.

Straight out of a Sacramento high school, Rose Melberg entered the indiepop 7-inch scene in 1992 with her first of many successful bands, Tiger Trap. Crunchy guitars and punk attitudes couldn't hide Rose's velvet voice and painfully-honest lyrics, and the all-girl foursome quickly became stars of a burgeoning indiepop/punk movement centered around Olympia, WA, and record labels like K and Kill Rock Stars. Too good to last, Tiger Trap split after their second U.S. tour, leaving one classic album and an EP on K Records. Wondrously prolific, Rose quickly teamed with uber-fan Jen Sbragia to form the The Softies, possibly her best-known project. With just two guitars and two angelic voices, from 1994 to 2001 The Softies debuted with a 7-inch and mini-LP on the wonderful Slumberland Records, toured the U.S. five times (once with Elliott Smith), released three amazing albums on K Records, and recorded several singles and compilation tracks.

At the same time, Rose somehow managed to front Go Sailor, who collected their sold-out and sought-after pop singles on Lookout! Records in 1997, and had two songs featured in the campy film, But I'm a Cheerleader. Never stopping, Rose also played drums on two albums with Gaze and recorded various duets and solo tracks while on tour. Those stray tracks were compiled on Portola, released by Double Agent Records in 1998. All Music Guide gave it four stars and declared: "Even in light of the uniform brilliance of Rose Melberg's past work with Tiger Trap and the Softies, her solo debut is still revelatory -- never before has her voice been so disarmingly honest and vulnerable ... Portola is a small miracle."

After giving us an avalanche of mellifluous albums to treasure, Rose kept quiet for five years while she started a family on a small Canadian lakeside town. In 2006, she came back with her solo masterpiece. Rose's maturity is immediate on Cast Away the Clouds -- long after graduating from Indiepop University, she emerged as a developed singer/songwriter akin to Nick Drake, Tracey Thorn, Elliott Smith, and Isobel Campbell (of Belle & Sebastian). With lyrics like a deeply personal journal, Cast Away the Clouds is an album Rose made for herself.
The newest album Homemade Ship was released in 2009

I Will
Rose Melberg Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Who knows how long I've loved you
You know I love you still
Will I wait a lonely lifetime
If you want me to, I will

For if I ever saw you
I didn't catch your name
But it never really mattered

I will always feel the same

Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart

And when at last I find you
Your song will fill the air
Sing it so loud I can hear you
Make it easy to be near you
For the things you do endear you to me

Ah, you know I will
I will

Overall Meaning

The opening line of the song “Who knows how long I’ve loved you” sets the melancholic tone of the song. It suggests that the singer has been in love for a long time, and implies that the love is not reciprocated. This is reinforced in the line “If you want me to, I will.” This line suggests that the singer is willing to do anything to be with the person they love, even if it means waiting a lifetime for them.

The second verse begins with “For if I ever saw you, I didn't catch your name.” This verse suggests that the singer may have never even met the person they are in love with. It is possible they had a fleeting encounter, but the relationship never went beyond that. But despite this, the singer still feels deeply in love, as captured in the line “I will always feel the same.”

The chorus of the song sums up the entire sentiment of the lyrics. It reflects the unwavering love the singer has for the person they are in love with, and their willingness to do anything to be with them, even if it takes forever. The last verse suggests that the singer is still searching for their love, but when they finally find them, they will express their feelings through song.

Overall, “I Will” is a beautiful and emotional song that captures the desperation and hopelessness of unrequited love.

Line by Line Meaning

Who knows how long I've loved you
I have loved you for an unknown amount of time

You know I love you still
My love for you has not changed

Will I wait a lonely lifetime
I am willing to wait for you for as long as it takes

If you want me to, I will
I am committed to being with you if that's what you want

For if I ever saw you
If I have seen you before

I didn't catch your name
I do not know your name

But it never really mattered
Your name is not important to me

I will always feel the same
My feelings for you will never change

Love you forever and forever
I will love you eternally

Love you with all my heart
I love you with my entire being